Corsair 5000D Airflow vs. Solid Case Review: Thermals, Noise, Build Quality
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Date: 2021-02-23
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Comments and reviews: 9
Today
One thing that I think would be really helpful to people looking for cases would be an aggregated list on your website of all cases.
With normalized sound testing results, CPU and GPU thermals, simply a spreadsheet of the cases and their tested configurations. (Maybe a link from each over to a an in depth explanation of how the configuration is actually set up, potentially some images to show the key things of note.)
Then it would be a lot easier to find actually good cases for one's need without needing to stumble through a whole bunch of videos to find something applicable.
Also, in regards to noise testing. You can buy a reference/measurement microphone (has an exceptionally flat response over frequency and usually a very low noise floor) and record 10-20 seconds of audio and simply do an FFT on the recorded in for an example Audacity. This would give a rough picture of what types of noise the case emits during normal operation. (Can intentionally also throw in a coil whine heavy GPU to test the higher frequency noise. I would though personally use a small speaker on a vibration dampened stand, since it will be more repeatable.)
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One thing that I think would be really helpful to people looking for cases would be an aggregated list on your website of all cases.
With normalized sound testing results, CPU and GPU thermals, simply a spreadsheet of the cases and their tested configurations. (Maybe a link from each over to a an in depth explanation of how the configuration is actually set up, potentially some images to show the key things of note.)
Then it would be a lot easier to find actually good cases for one's need without needing to stumble through a whole bunch of videos to find something applicable.
Also, in regards to noise testing. You can buy a reference/measurement microphone (has an exceptionally flat response over frequency and usually a very low noise floor) and record 10-20 seconds of audio and simply do an FFT on the recorded in for an example Audacity. This would give a rough picture of what types of noise the case emits during normal operation. (Can intentionally also throw in a coil whine heavy GPU to test the higher frequency noise. I would though personally use a small speaker on a vibration dampened stand, since it will be more repeatable.)
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Qassim
I recently bought this case and have been happy with it (Airflow) - I've got 4x 120, 2x140 case fans and 2x 140 CPU fans, I've been optimising for noise and have been pretty happy with how low I can dial the fans down.
One thing I'd note is that due to the way the radiator mounts are - the Arctic Freezer II 280 is quite tricky to install in anywhere except the front. The top doesn't leave any room so any motherboard with anything but the smallest VRM heatsink on it is going to block it. I'm happy with putting the the heatsink in the front as I think getting the cool air over the radiator should allow me to keep the fans quieter, but something worth considering.
One other slight knock is that I found this case a bit tricky to build in even compared to the smaller case I came from (Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX from 2015).
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I recently bought this case and have been happy with it (Airflow) - I've got 4x 120, 2x140 case fans and 2x 140 CPU fans, I've been optimising for noise and have been pretty happy with how low I can dial the fans down.
One thing I'd note is that due to the way the radiator mounts are - the Arctic Freezer II 280 is quite tricky to install in anywhere except the front. The top doesn't leave any room so any motherboard with anything but the smallest VRM heatsink on it is going to block it. I'm happy with putting the the heatsink in the front as I think getting the cool air over the radiator should allow me to keep the fans quieter, but something worth considering.
One other slight knock is that I found this case a bit tricky to build in even compared to the smaller case I came from (Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX from 2015).
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Samuel
I was able to buy individual side and front panels (glass, airflow, and/or solid metal) for my 4000D shortly after buying one right around when they launched. They were hard to find on the website, and I ended up having to search specifically for the name of the part since it wasn't showing up in the shop when using filters for categorically searching. At the same time, I was in talks through email with a Corsair rep who said those parts weren't available yet even though I had already figured out how to buy one.
Point is: I suspect the 5000D and X panels will probably become available soon if they aren't already. They might just be buried on the site in a weird spot while they get their crap together through the product launch window.
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I was able to buy individual side and front panels (glass, airflow, and/or solid metal) for my 4000D shortly after buying one right around when they launched. They were hard to find on the website, and I ended up having to search specifically for the name of the part since it wasn't showing up in the shop when using filters for categorically searching. At the same time, I was in talks through email with a Corsair rep who said those parts weren't available yet even though I had already figured out how to buy one.
Point is: I suspect the 5000D and X panels will probably become available soon if they aren't already. They might just be buried on the site in a weird spot while they get their crap together through the product launch window.
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Josh
i feel like the last good cases from corsair were around the early obsidian stuff, like the 750D, 800D and 900D. i own the latter, and ive modded it recently to accept 2 full atx systems running completely independently of each other (just waiting for stock to come in on a couple parts to actually make it run). those had decent expandability, alright air flow for the time, and they were fairly quiet. some quirky things, like the 900D side panel release mechanism, were pretty flakey, but overall they were fun to build in cases that kept up with some of my extreme builds of the era. im exited to see how the 900D mod i did handles two gaming systems in one box. should be a good one, ill try to get Steve's attention with it once it's done.
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i feel like the last good cases from corsair were around the early obsidian stuff, like the 750D, 800D and 900D. i own the latter, and ive modded it recently to accept 2 full atx systems running completely independently of each other (just waiting for stock to come in on a couple parts to actually make it run). those had decent expandability, alright air flow for the time, and they were fairly quiet. some quirky things, like the 900D side panel release mechanism, were pretty flakey, but overall they were fun to build in cases that kept up with some of my extreme builds of the era. im exited to see how the 900D mod i did handles two gaming systems in one box. should be a good one, ill try to get Steve's attention with it once it's done.
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RacingRalphEVO
Naah, too big. I wish they would make a 4000D rev 2. I just recently got a 4000D airflow and I really like. If they would make the front fan-mounts more solid, fix the floppy front filter, add some nicer HDD mounts (yes, I still got an HDD drive, and those solid plastic slots feel really cheap compared to the ones in my old Zalman GS1000) and add a separate microphone jack on the front panel (maybe a second usb-A connector), I would absolutely upgrade, and even pay more than 100 . I am also a big fan of the looks.
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Naah, too big. I wish they would make a 4000D rev 2. I just recently got a 4000D airflow and I really like. If they would make the front fan-mounts more solid, fix the floppy front filter, add some nicer HDD mounts (yes, I still got an HDD drive, and those solid plastic slots feel really cheap compared to the ones in my old Zalman GS1000) and add a separate microphone jack on the front panel (maybe a second usb-A connector), I would absolutely upgrade, and even pay more than 100 . I am also a big fan of the looks.
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Mike
Great video, as always. I looked at this case when recently shopping and ended up going with the Thermaltake View 51 Snow. The main reason is because the Corsair 5000 series cases have a basement, while the TT View 51 is designed more like the Lian Li O11 Dynamic cases with the dual chamber and things like a PSU and additional hard drives go in the back. Also, there is enough clearance to mount a 360mm x 60mm thick radiator in the rear chamber, behind the mounting area for the 3x 120mm side fans.
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Great video, as always. I looked at this case when recently shopping and ended up going with the Thermaltake View 51 Snow. The main reason is because the Corsair 5000 series cases have a basement, while the TT View 51 is designed more like the Lian Li O11 Dynamic cases with the dual chamber and things like a PSU and additional hard drives go in the back. Also, there is enough clearance to mount a 360mm x 60mm thick radiator in the rear chamber, behind the mounting area for the 3x 120mm side fans.
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jomb
I really think there should be a test where all fan slots are populated within reason to show what a case can truly do in a real world scenario. I'm not going to buy the case and then insist on only using the two cheap fans that come with it, or only using three fans (two in front and one in the back) and ignore a perfectly good slot in the door because that's the rules, three is the max. These thermal tests just don't reflect how I would actually use the case.
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I really think there should be a test where all fan slots are populated within reason to show what a case can truly do in a real world scenario. I'm not going to buy the case and then insist on only using the two cheap fans that come with it, or only using three fans (two in front and one in the back) and ignore a perfectly good slot in the door because that's the rules, three is the max. These thermal tests just don't reflect how I would actually use the case.
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malphadour
Overpriced as usual from corsair. At this price point there are far better cases on the market most of which haven't skimped on supplied fans either. I still no see zero reason anyone would buy a 4000D or 5000D other than they know no better and just see the Corsair brand and think oooh that means it is good. both have superior better priced an or specced competitors and it doesn't take a lot of research to find them.
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Overpriced as usual from corsair. At this price point there are far better cases on the market most of which haven't skimped on supplied fans either. I still no see zero reason anyone would buy a 4000D or 5000D other than they know no better and just see the Corsair brand and think oooh that means it is good. both have superior better priced an or specced competitors and it doesn't take a lot of research to find them.
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World
Fantastic video. Due to my budget, I will consider the 4000D Airflow instead for my future build. I agree that it's great to see Corsair back to form with some airflow centric cases.
Here's a story for future generations:
GamersNexus: Airflow should be important in PC cases.
NZXT: The best I can do is fire.
Corsair: Give the people airflow across our new lines of PC cases.
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Fantastic video. Due to my budget, I will consider the 4000D Airflow instead for my future build. I agree that it's great to see Corsair back to form with some airflow centric cases.
Here's a story for future generations:
GamersNexus: Airflow should be important in PC cases.
NZXT: The best I can do is fire.
Corsair: Give the people airflow across our new lines of PC cases.
reply
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